Bobby

Bobby

Mike's familiar · the fey deer · the deer

Character

Status Unknown (Mike Deceased) First seen s18 Last seen s18 Faction Mike's familiar

Bobby is the fey deer familiar Mike summoned at the cottage long rest in session 18 ^[3]. Mike snapped his fingers and a deer “flashes into existence” from a pocket dimension; Mike introduced him as “my friend, Bobby” and tasked him with feeding the fire overnight and helping keep watch. The only on-screen appearance is the summon scene at the post-landfall cottage. With Mike killed by Glenn the next morning ^[4], Bobby’s status is unresolved on-transcript - flagged for DM ruling based on whichever edition’s Find Familiar RAW the table uses (typically: familiars dispersed/unsummoned on caster death). Presumed dispersed.

Overview

Bobby is Mike’s fey deer familiar, summoned via Find Familiar at the post-landfall cottage long rest on the night of 843-03-30 ^[3]. Mike snapped his fingers and a deer materialised “out of the nothingness” - Mike explained the delay by noting Bobby had been “in a pocket dimension” through the entire sea voyage and there had been no convenient time to bring him out before the long-rest camp.

The name “Bobby” is Mike’s. The species - deer - is Mike’s chosen familiar form; the fey descriptor follows from Find Familiar’s 2024 list of options (the table treated this as a fey-coded familiar without further specification on-transcript). Mike’s brief intro at ^[2] set out Bobby’s only on-screen tasking: feed the fire while the party sleeps, help keep watch.

Appearance

A deer. No further visual description on-transcript. The summon was instant - finger snap, materialisation, no ritual described.

Capabilities observed in play

None tested on-screen. Bobby was tasked with watch-keeping and fire-tending overnight; the cottage long rest passed without incident through the night and Bobby’s actions are not narrated further.

Status

Unknown. Mike was killed by Glenn on the morning of 843-03-31 ^[4]. Find Familiar’s RAW behaviour on caster death varies by edition and by table ruling; the most common default is that the familiar’s link is severed and the familiar disperses or returns to its plane of origin. The DM did not rule on Bobby’s fate on-screen in session 18; the question is flagged for DM clarification on the s19 docket.

Practical readings, none confirmed:

1. Dispersed at caster death. Bobby returned to his pocket dimension or to the Fey plane the moment Mike’s link broke. Most-likely default reading.
2. Persisting until next long rest. Some Find Familiar implementations keep the familiar present until the next long rest tick; under that reading Bobby would still have been at the cottage when Mike died on the road, and would have dispersed at the next rest tick.
3. Persisting indefinitely as a fey creature. Less likely given the familiar context, but the fey-coded summon could in principle outlast its summoner; this would be a DM-fiat continuation rather than a RAW reading.

See also

• Mike - deceased summoner.
• Find Familiar - the underlying spell.

References

1. ^ Session 18, line 1683 — Summon scene - "I snap my fingers and out of the out of the nothingness flashes into an existence a deer. And I'm like, this is my friend, Bobby. ... Am I fine familiar? He was in a pocket dimension.".
2. ^ Session 18, line 1685 — Tasked role - "Anyway, this is Bobby. This is Bobby. And he's going to feed the fire while we're sleeping. And he's going to help keep watch.".
3. ^ Session 18, line 1683-1685 — Inline citation.
4. ^ Session 18, line 2272-2276 — Inline citation.